Student+Mapping+Tool

The Student Mapping Tool (SMT) is a pre-programmed Microsoft Excel spreadsheet, which presents an easy-to-read selection of our school’s data held on the CASES21 student database, used by all Victorian Government schools. At AVPS, the leadership team were trained in it's use in 2009 and started using the tool late in the school year. http://www.education.vic.gov.au/sensecyouth/careertrans/smt/default.htm

The Tool highlights factors which have been shown to increase the risk of student disengagement and early leaving, and maps the programs and initiatives being used within your school. The data can be used to assess and plan for whole-school needs, and to monitor individual student progress, evaluate the efficacy of the interventions being used, and assists schools in reporting and student management. At this stage we are adding two agreed measures (data sets) of the student mapping tool that we believe we help us ENGAGE and EVALUATE our students more effectively. As part of our TPL project, our Student data manager has surveyed every student around their passions and interests. This data will inform us on what learning partnerships we may need to acquire when our Learning Studio is completed. See Student Data Manager for further details about our workforce planning model and how we envisage a Learning partnerships manager will work with the school leadership team and teachers/staff to furhet enhance student learning at AVPS. In 2011, as part of the introduction of Student Cumulative files, we have agreed that part of our assessment collection data will be added to the SMT. Below is an example of how we have added information to the SMT. Currently the SMT is being used for the school leadership team to get a current snapshot into a student at AVPS (attendance, any intervention, VELS, passions & interests etc) and we believe that the Student Cumulative files and teacher assessment practices are more relevant for teachers. The SMT gives us a tool to monitor to have conversations with classroom teachers about individual and groups of students with various needs and monitor improvement as necessary. With the introduction of the Ultranet, we envisage the practice of storage and sharing of student data will change. We will monitor this.  Example from our SMT - highlighting how we can record and collate data around student passions and interests to increase engagement. 

The following information is taken from the DEECD website and helps us to use the SMT effectively.

==**Asking the questions that are relevant & interest you** == The Student Mapping Tool is only useful if you ask it the questions that matter, and use the answers to inform your decision-making. Remember that data does not explain WHY things are the way they are. Don’t leap, and don’t let your staff leap, into believing you know why some Koorie students are poor attenders, or why low income students are under-achieving in numeracy, or why your students do better in Year 7 NAPLAN testing than Year 9. The data, when it is accurate and sound, can tell you what is. Only an intelligent investigation will tell you why.

However, once you understand the kinds of the questions the Tool can answer, you will be able to access better evidence to support internal school discussions and planning. The questions below can be answered as soon as you download the data, before you enter any additional information into the Tool. Remember that you, as a member of the leadership team, do not have to do all of the data analysis yourself. If you are trying to improve literacy, email the Literacy Coordinator a copy of the Tool and ask for a report based on what it contains. You can make a copy, delete all of the rows except the Year 9s and send that version to the Year 9 coordinator. Don’t forget to specify the questions you are particularly interested in! And don’t forget to provide your staff with the support they need to develop their Excel skills.

===**Literacy or Numeracy Coordinator/Head of English/Head of Maths:** ===
 * What proportion of our students are achieving at age appropriate levels according to NAPLAN results?
 * What proportion of our students are achieving at age appropriate levels according to teacher assessment?
 * What proportion of our students are achieving at least one year above age appropriate levels?
 * <span style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; display: block; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.4; list-style-position: outside; list-style-type: none; margin: 1em 1em 1em 2em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Does this proportion decline or increase when you compare students across Year levels?
 * <span style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; display: block; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.4; list-style-position: outside; list-style-type: none; margin: 1em 1em 1em 2em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">What proportion of our students are achieving at below age appropriate levels?
 * <span style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; display: block; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.4; list-style-position: outside; list-style-type: none; margin: 1em 1em 1em 2em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Does this proportion decline or increase when you compare students across Year levels?
 * <span style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; display: block; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.4; list-style-position: outside; list-style-type: none; margin: 1em 1em 1em 2em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Is there a significant discrepancy between teachers in their assessment (e.g. do some rate all students as achieving at levels appropriate to age, while others rate a significant proportion of students as below or above expected levels of achievement)?
 * <span style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; display: block; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.4; list-style-position: outside; list-style-type: none; margin: 1em 1em 1em 2em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Who are the students you believe to be under-achieving? What proportion of students do they represent?
 * <span style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; display: block; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.4; list-style-position: outside; list-style-type: none; margin: 1em 1em 1em 2em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">What proportion of under-achieving students are homeless/from low income families/Koorie/recent arrival refugees/have an attendance rate of less than 80%?
 * <span style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; display: block; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.4; list-style-position: outside; list-style-type: none; margin: 1em 1em 1em 2em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">What proportion of under-achieving students have been internally or externally suspended since the start of the academic year?

===<span style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; color: #2f69b3; display: block; font-family: inherit; font-size: 1.2em; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0.6em 0px 0.4em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">**Student Wellbeing Coordinator:** ===
 * <span style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; display: block; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.4; list-style-position: outside; list-style-type: none; margin: 1em 1em 1em 2em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">What proportion of our students are homeless, from single parent families, from low income families, Koorie, recent arrival refugees or have a disability?
 * <span style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; display: block; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.4; list-style-position: outside; list-style-type: none; margin: 1em 1em 1em 2em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">What is the correlation between each of these groups and academic achievement? (E.g. 10% of all students are underperforming academically, but 45% of students from low income families are underperforming academically.)
 * <span style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; display: block; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.4; list-style-position: outside; list-style-type: none; margin: 1em 1em 1em 2em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Which students have exposure to multiple risk factors (according to the Tool)? Are all of these students currently ‘on the radar’ of wellbeing staff and other relevant staff members?
 * <span style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; display: block; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.4; list-style-position: outside; list-style-type: none; margin: 1em 1em 1em 2em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">After looking at the data showing the risk factors, how many of our students do we consider to be at risk of early school leaving? See Level 3 notes to assist answering this question.